All Love's Legal

Planningtorock's music has always had an empowering streak: Have It All was a journey of self-discovery and creative rebirth, while W explored the potential conflicts between love and self. All Love's Legal expands on these concerns as well as the prominence of LGBT rights in the 2010s, resulting in songs that embrace love and reject traditional gender roles. Prior to the album's release, Planningtorock's leader adopted the androgynous name Jam Rostron, reflecting how passionately she cares about the subject. Rostron's aims are similarly clear throughout All Love's Legal. "You cannot legalize love/Love is the one gift that gives life," Rostron sings on the title track in a pitch-shifted voice that recalls Antony Hegarty or Bronski Beat's Jimmy Somerville. This bluntness is the heart of the album -- people who don't conform to societal norms when it comes to love and sex shouldn't have to hide or disguise that fact -- yet All Love's Legal's music is often nimble. "Beyond Binary Binds" focuses on fluid, buzzing synths that are way too flexible for any kind of boundaries; crisp strings help "Human Drama" live up to its name. The most danceable moments deliver the anthemic power Rostron strives for throughout All Love's Legal: "Public Love," with its urgent house rhythm and brassy synths, stretches out and lets the beat do the talking, while "Patriarchy Over & Out" unites the funky and rarefied sounds that dominate the album in a satisfying finale. Rostron remains an artist with bold ideas. ~ Heather Phares